Grrh! Move to the right!

Right, then…

First, a quick update:  I’ve been a bit low energy and hungrier than usual this week – not sure what’s up with that.  I have done  workouts on  Sunday through Weds, but my mileage is off, I think (only 12.3 mi run, one swim).  That said, I plan on doing a 15 mi run tomorrow, so maybe I should just shut up.

So, anyway – ran in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate challenge on Weds night, in San Francisco.  A nice, quick 3.5 mile run – the hardest part was getting up and back from Santa Clara.  The longest part of the race was waiting (while wearing a sweat-soaked shirt in the cold, wind and fog) for over half an hour in order to get my bag out of equipment check.  But that’s not what I’m here to bitch about.

What I’m here to bitch about is slow runners.  Mind you, I’m a slow runner – and I’m aware of it.  I’m talking about slow runners that are in a race that do not move to the goddamn right and get out of the way! I’ve noticed this in the past few races I’ve been in:  For some reason, people think that a 9 or 10 minute mile pace is walking, so they just meander and dawdle and dick around after everyone starts moving.  Or there are folks with dogs and strollers, tooling along.  Or, they might be running at a good pace, but will then decide to take a rest – right there in the middle of the goddamn race course!

People!  Move to the right!  For fuck’s sake!

I am by no means a racer.  On a good run, I’m happy if I can get a 9:20/mile average.  But, again, I’m aware of it and when I notice that I’m the slower one in the group, I move to the right and let the faster ones go.  Or, for that matter, knowing my normal speeds, I don’t line up in the 7 min/mile group, knowing that I’ll be in the way.

Simple, right?

It’s called consideration for others.  Let’s all work on that.

Slight Change in Plans

“…ran into a chum with a bottle of rum, and we wound up drinking all night…”

–Jimmy Buffett, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes—

Right, then…

So to be honest, the change in yesterdays training was not quite that exotic.  Not long after the last post, I received a call from an old friend.  I knew that she was going to be in the Bay Area, but we were supposed to get together later in the week.  Turns out, her friend that she was going to visit had an emergency, so she asked if I’d be able to change my training plans.

Well, hell.

While I have acknowledged that running (and biking and whateverthehell else) is basically me channeling my propensity for drinking beer into other, more constructive pursuits, I have the ability to squelch it on occasion.  A call from a 19-year friend is one of those occasions.  So, instead of doing a bike/run brick, we had lunch, tooled around Los Gatos, then went to a friend’s house for barbecue.

Today, I did a 5 mile run, instead – so the weekend was not a total loss.

It’s all about balance.